"They are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks," he said of the US forces, asked if Iraq itself was considering surrender on the 20th day of the war aimed at toppling President Saddam Hussein.

US tanks advanced in the centre of the city from an overnight base in a compound of a presidential palace captured by US forces yesterday.

Aircraft and artillery pounded government buildings in the centre of the city.

"Baghdad is bracing to pummel the invaders," he said.

Sahaf accused US forces of attacking civilian targets in central Baghdad, including the offices of Al-Jazeera television. Jazeera said a cameraman was killed in a US air raid.

"They are in an hysterical state and think that if they kill civilians they are going to win, they're not going to win," he said.